2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

The 26th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is under way, and entries will be accepted for another six weeks, until June 30, 2014. First prize winner will receive an 8-day Alaskan expedition for two. National Geographic was once more kind enough to allow me to share some of the early entries with you here, gathered from four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments. Photos and captions by the photographers.

Mirror Wave. The Wave at the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument (Arizona/Utah), after a heavy thunderstorm with a small pond granting a perfect mirror for the reflection of the hiker. A calm and solemn place at a perfect day.#

Diver in Magic Kingdom. Green Lake (Grüner See) is located Tragöss Austria. In spring snowmelt raises the lake level about 10 meters. This phenomenon, which lasts only a few weeks covering the hiking trails, meadows, trees. The result is magical to watch diving landscapes.#

Master and Commander. The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ocean liner in the world and her captain, Kevin Oprey, got a fresh view of her size and majesty when he stood on the shipâ€™s bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.The photograph, taken to mark the tenth anniversary of the liner in May this year, were shot while she was docked at sea near Benoa off the coast of Bali.#

A Magical Evening. I have always dreamed of one day seeing the Northern Lights. On a recent trip to Iceland I drove to the iceberg lagoon and soon after dark they came out and what a show it was! The lights were out for only a brief time as soon the clouds rolled in but my dream became a reality!#

A "Photo" Finish. A Dall's porpoise races the Seabird and wins! I am the person (photographer)in the red National Geographic arctic jacket. Essentially everything is a reflection except some water and the porpoise. Elfin Cove-Glacier Bay entrance area, Alaska.#

Polar Bear. I waited eight days in very cold and windy weather in order to capture this image of a mother polar bear peeking out of her den at sunset. It was reported that she emerged from her den on day 10 after I left the park, in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba.#

Sometimes bats are beautiful. These tiny bats were barely visible under some large leaves in a rainforest park in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. A bit of good luck and light as we went by enabled me to get this shot.#

A Guides Eye View. Two mountain guides direct a helicopter into land high in the Swiss Alps on top of Mt. Gond. I took this shot whilst shooting an extreme ski and snowboard competition - the Nendaz Freeride FWQ. I had been dropped just before on the peak and with the permission of the guides cowered down behind them to capture this shot when the remaining supplies were delivered. My lens took a bit of a battering and I could only hold myself in position properly for a few seconds as the rush of snow debris was insane at this point.#

A Land Before Time. Monument Valley, Sunrise. For four mornings in a row I was up well before dawn and drove from Mexican Hat, Utah (30 mi) to try and get the shot I was after. On day four the light was perfect, the clouds, the sense of space and how small we all are compared with these natural wonders.#

Portrait of a buso man without his mask. During the Poklade, buso festivities, in Mohacs, Hungary, men are dressed as 'buso' wearing cloaks made of sheep fur, and wear wooden hand-made masks on their heads. They are not supposed to remove their masks in public, only in private yards and in private homes.#

Touch down to the sunrise. I went on an adventure trip to Shiretoko Hokkaido, Japan, last February when it was the drift ice season. At the moment of sunrise, I was waiting for this eagle to land on the ice.#

Beautiful Gouter. We were coming back from Mount Blanc's summit, 4810 m, feeling invincible for what we'd just accomplished. The new Gouter's refugee is outstanding and looks even lunar. Mount Blanc, Chamonix, France .#

Sandstorm castles. This was the first real sandstorm I encountered in the Sahara desert. Strong wind raised very coarse sand in the air. I tried to protect my camera by plastic pack, but it didn't help and the sand crunched in the lens. Sahara desert, Mounlaga dunes, Algeria.#

Lightning after dark at the Grand Canyon. Capturing the Grand Canyon on this amazing night was a night I will never forget. I waited and waited long after dark telling my fiance and my student that we might get lucky. It paid off and when the first bolt struck, I yelled to the both of them to grab their tripods and I stayed and shot for over 2 hours. Was one of the best moments of my life as a photographer!#

Evening light over Hamnoy, a small fishing village in the municipality of Moskenes in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the eastern side of Moskenesoya, about 1.5 kilometers northeast of Reine, along the Vestfjorden.#

Snowmelt and last week’s “bomb cyclone” have overwhelmed rivers in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and neighboring states, causing widespread flooding that has broken dozens of records and cost at least three lives.